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FALSE KILLER WHALE |
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SCIENTIFIC
NAME - Pseudorca from the greek
pseudes "false",
crassidens from the latin crassus "stocky" and dens "tooth";
so "false killer whale with stocky teeth".
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FAMILY
- Delphinidae
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| DIMENSIONS
- Female is smaller of the male, the maximum length 6
mt, the maximum weight 2 t. |
| ASPECT
- Although the name, the likenesses
with the killer whale are limited to skeletal aspects not of the aspect.
Lengthened body; rounded but small head; melon and rostrum
are not evidenced because of the curving of the head; protruding jaw
; enough high and arcuated dorsal fin; small fins
with characteristic curving. |
| SKIN
and COLORATION - Dark gray tending to the black on abdomen clearer
zone, possible grey shadings on the head. |
| LONGEVITY
- It's supposed until 20 years. |
| REPRODUCTION
- They reproduce all the year with
gestation from 12 to 16 months. To the birth puppy measure
approximately 1.8 mt. |
| TEETH
- Medium 38, moderately large ones, until
2.5 cm of diameter. |
| BREATH
- Little visible. |
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SOUNDS
- Three types of emissions:
1° click, used emissions of short
duration for the biosonar.
2° modulated whistle.
3° sounds to
impulses.
The emissions of
the number 2 and 3 constitute
the dictionary of the false killer whale, used in order to communicate.
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| FEEDING
- The diet of
the false killer whale is the rather varied. Fish and squids (also of dimensions like tunnidi, Barracuda etc), but also sometimes cetaceans of
small dimensions like the dolphins (Vd. Feeding). |
| HABITAT
- Pelagic cetacean loves moderated waters, but sometimes it does not respect this
outline. |
| SWIM
- It's a cetacean that to the occurrence it knows to be
very fast and agile, in relation of the prey of which feeds, but normally
it swims enough slowly in surface with constant respiratory emersions. Sometimes they strike the surface of the sea with the tail
(tailslapping). |
| JUMPS
- They Carry out enough spectacular jumps with the total emersion of the body from the water and dive of
head (porpoising) and on the back (breaching). |
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MIGRATIONS
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There are not many researches.
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SOCIALITY
- Strongest and complex social ties
that carry to the birth of branches of several tens of individuals sometimes also 100, the high sociality is demonstrated in the sharing of
the food.
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TEMPERAMENT
- Very intelligent confiding and onlooker, is the larger dolphin who lets him be transported by the bow wave of the boats.
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DANGER
and PREDATORY
- No assessed predator, sometimes victim of
beaching collectives.
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SPECIES
DIFFUSION
- Do not exist researches of the total
number. In the Mediterranean little diffuse, but present above all to
the West.
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